1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a material for and method of effecting the decomposition/dissociation of water to form hydrogen. The water is reacted with an amalgam of sodium, aluminum and mercury to form hydrogen and a metallic hydroxide believed to be Na.sub.3 Al(OH).sub.6.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that alkali metals react with water to form hydrogen and the stable alkali hydroxide. The foregoing reaction is rapid, the heat generated intense and the hydrogen formed generally ignites with explosive force. The result is an unsatisfactory and dangerous method of generating hydrogen. Moreover, the resulting alkali metal hydroxide is very stable and regeneration to form the alkali metal is not practical from an economic standpoint.
A simple and facile method of producing hydrogen without spontaneous combustion of the resultant evolved hydrogen where an alkali metal is used has not heretofore been developed.